L.J. Lee (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ljwrites) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
write_away2014-08-30 08:36 pm
ljwrites) wrote in write_away2014-08-30 08:36 pm
Real-life ideas in fiction?
What do you think about using political, social, religious and other ideas in fiction-writing? Do your beliefs find their way into your work, and if so how? Alternately, do you believe enjoyable fiction is free of ideology and partisanship?
These questions were touched off in me when members of another comm that I admin were quite open about expressing political and moral ideas through their works. I've given a lot of thought to this issue, too, for instance in a long rant about a post by Holly Lisle on her website, in my review of Changes by Jim Butcher, my review of Frozen, my review of Kingdom of Heaven and... oh, let's face it, everything I've ever written, including fiction. Especially fiction. As I noted in the Changes review, my political views are inextricable from the literary.
That's not to say my goal is to preach or proselytize, quite the opposite in fact. I believe the role of fiction is to tell a truth that lies beyond and below facts. Having an uncompromising agenda tends to distort the truth, and if a writer finds herself going into contortions to make her side look good then she has some issues to work out before she can write to her full potential. On the other hand, truth doesn't exist free of viewpoints, and every work of fiction has some moral standpoint no matter how well or poorly expressed. That's the way I see it, anyway. What do you think?
These questions were touched off in me when members of another comm that I admin were quite open about expressing political and moral ideas through their works. I've given a lot of thought to this issue, too, for instance in a long rant about a post by Holly Lisle on her website, in my review of Changes by Jim Butcher, my review of Frozen, my review of Kingdom of Heaven and... oh, let's face it, everything I've ever written, including fiction. Especially fiction. As I noted in the Changes review, my political views are inextricable from the literary.
That's not to say my goal is to preach or proselytize, quite the opposite in fact. I believe the role of fiction is to tell a truth that lies beyond and below facts. Having an uncompromising agenda tends to distort the truth, and if a writer finds herself going into contortions to make her side look good then she has some issues to work out before she can write to her full potential. On the other hand, truth doesn't exist free of viewpoints, and every work of fiction has some moral standpoint no matter how well or poorly expressed. That's the way I see it, anyway. What do you think?
no subject
Moral judgements are what make a story. Even things like "liars get caught" or "murdering your king will damage your mind" are moral judgements, but no one is calling out Macbeth for being political. (Even though they should, but that's another history lesson.)
I think the main problem with preach fiction is.... it tends to come off like the author doesn't care about the characters. They're just there to make a point rather than be people. And that's bad writing whether or not you agree with the point.
It's a point made in science circles, especially the social sciences - /nothing exists outside of bias/. We cannot separate ourselves from our perspective. We simply do not have access to objective reality, much less how we interpret that reality. (One person's goddess figure is another person's pornography.) All you can do is acknowledge the bias, and acknowledge that everyone else has their own justifiable views as well.
no subject
That's my main problem with bad writing, as well. I feel a bit bad about this sometimes, because I'll read any old rot with terrible morality, as long as the writing is good and the characters feel halfway real.
It's like when I was asked by someone who doesn't read much what my opinion was about that 50 Shades series (of which I'd read a bit of the original fanfic for free online) and whether they should buy it for someone as a fun sexy present. The message in that book is dodgy, but I'm of the opinion that no one book will sway an intelligent adult and turn them into a gibbering idiot. The writing, however... oh wow, it was so bad. That offends me much more than any crazy skewed morality, and it's what I gave my advice based on.
Life's too short to read bad writing.